1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus having an information signal reproducing function (hereinafter referred to as "information signal reproducing apparatus", e.g., a video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as "VTR") which is united with a camera, i.e., what is called video camera. More particularly, the present invention relates to an information signal reproducing apparatus which is characterized by the method of locating the top of recorded information (the process of locating the top of recorded information will hereinafter be referred to as "cuing up").
2. Description of the Background Art
As a method of locating the top of a recorded image in a video camera or a stationary VTR, there is a method in which an index signal is recorded on a longitudinal or diagonal track of a video tape in association with the top of a recorded image by setting an index signal recording mode at the time of video recording, and cuing up is executed by using the recorded index signal.
However, this method needs an operation of setting the index signal recording mode. Therefore, when the video recording mode and the stand-by mode are frequently repeated as in the case of a video camera, every time the video recording mode is set by actuating the video recording button, it is necessary to judge whether or not recording of an index signal is required, and if required, the index signal recording mode must be set. Therefore, the operation is troublesome. If the system is arranged so that the index signal recording mode will be automatically set every time the video recording mode is set, the number of positions where index signals are recorded undesirably increases, resulting in an increase in the time required for the cuing-up operation.